California Assembly Bill AB849 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 849INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla FEBRUARY 26, 2015 An act to amend Sections 452 and 452.1 of the Penal Code, relating to crime. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 849, as introduced, Bonilla. Unlawfully causing a fire: explosion. Existing law provides that a person is guilty of the crime of unlawfully causing a fire when he or she recklessly sets fire to or burns, or causes to be burned, a structure, forest land, or property. Unlawfully causing a fire that causes great bodily injury or causes an inhabited structure or inhabited property to burn, or unlawfully causing a fire of a structure or forest land is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or a county jail, as specified, and a fine, or both the fine and imprisonment. Unlawfully causing a fire of property is a misdemeanor, except as specified. Existing law also imposes sentence enhancements for those crimes, if specified circumstances apply, such as if emergency personnel suffer great bodily injury as a result of the offense. This bill would revise those provisions to specify that they also apply to unlawfully causing an explosion. The bill would also provide that unlawfully causing a fire or an explosion that causes the contents of an inhabited structure or an inhabited property to burn or be damaged by an explosion is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine, or by both that imprisonment and fine. By expanding the scope of existing crimes and creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 452 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 452. A person is guilty of unlawfully causing a fire  or an explosion  when he  or she  recklessly sets fire  to or burns or   to, burns,  causes to be burned,  or causes an explosion within or on  any structure, forest land or property. (a) Unlawfully causing a fire  or an explosion  that causes great bodily injury is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, four or six years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine, or by both  such   that  imprisonment and fine. (b) Unlawfully causing a fire  or an explosion  that causes an inhabited structure or inhabited property  , or its contents,  to burn  or to be damaged by an explosion  is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine, or by both  such   that  imprisonment and fine. (c) Unlawfully causing a fire  of   to, or an explosion on or of  a structure or  on  forest land is a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, two or three years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by a fine, or by both  such   that  imprisonment and fine. (d) Unlawfully causing a fire  of   to, or an explosion on,  property is a misdemeanor. For purposes of this paragraph, unlawfully causing a fire  of   to, or an explosion on,  property does not include one  burning or   burning,  causing to be burned  , or causing an explosion on  his  or her  own personal property unless there is injury to another person or to another person's structure, forest land or property. (e)  In the case of any   If a  person  is  convicted of violating this section while  he or she is  confined in a state prison, prison road camp, prison forestry camp, or other prison camp or prison farm, or while  he or she is  confined in a county jail while serving a term of imprisonment for a felony or misdemeanor conviction,  any   the  sentence imposed  for a violation of this section shall be consecutive to the sentence for which the person was  then  confined. SEC. 2. Section 452.1 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 452.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, any person who is convicted of a felony violation of Section 452 shall be punished by a one-, two-, or three-year enhancement for each of the following circumstances that is found to be true: (1) The defendant has been previously convicted of a felony violation of Section 451 or 452. (2) A firefighter, peace officer, or other emergency personnel suffered great bodily injury as a result of the offense. The additional term provided by this subdivision shall be imposed whenever applicable, including any instance in which there is a violation of subdivision (a) of Section 452. (3) The defendant proximately caused great bodily injury to more than one victim in any single violation of Section 452. The additional term provided by this subdivision shall be imposed whenever applicable, including any instance in which there is a violation of subdivision (a) of Section 452. (4) The defendant proximately caused multiple structures to burn  or be damaged by an explosion  in  any   a  single violation of Section 452. (b) The additional term specified in subdivision (a)  of Section 452.1  shall not be imposed unless the existence of  any   a  fact required under this section  shall be   is  alleged in the accusatory pleading and either admitted by the defendant in open court or found to be true by the trier of fact. SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.